The Timberland Regional Library (TRL) Board of Trustees on Wednesday held its first hybrid meeting since the five-county library district announced a $3.8 million budget deficit in January.
In addition to about 60 virtual attendees, trustees Mary Beth Harrington, of Thurston County, and Toni Gwin, of Pacific County, didn’t make the drive down to the Chehalis Timberland Library for the meeting.
The two trustees at a previous meeting said they were unwilling to attend meetings in person due to fears of being “threatened” and “attacked” amid widespread public criticism of the way TRL has handled its budget crisis.
Harrington addressed her prior comments at the start of Wednesday’s meeting, claiming their fears were not because they “believe TRL libraries are unsafe,” but because some members of the public “have taken their displeasure with us to the extreme.”
She cited several instances where she alleged “some of us” were “verbally assaulted” in their front yards and in the grocery store, and claimed board members’ addresses and disparaging comments against board members had been posted in online forums.
“I suspect, or I hope, that most of you are alarmed and appalled by this, but I also suspect that some of you are pleased. Yes, you are getting to us. You have successfully got some of us to change our habits and take extra precautions,” Harrington said. “However, you have not thwarted our efforts. We will not stop doing the work we need to do. We will continue to move forward, and most importantly, we will not be bullied or blackmailed into making decisions that we feel are not in the best interest of Timberland Regional Library.”
No other board members addressed Harrington’s comments or the concerns she raised.
When the topic of resuming fully in-person meetings came up again later on in the meeting, Harrington cited concerns such as being unable to drive at night and said requiring trustees to attend meetings in-person would limit who could be on the Board of Trustees in the future.
Trustee President Brian Mittge and his fellow Lewis County representative Hal Blanton advocated for a return to in-person meetings, but agreed to continue in a hybrid format for now and revisit the discussion later.
The board also agreed to explore a several thousand dollar software to make the hybrid meetings be smoother and more accessible for virtual attendees.
Members of the public who packed Chehalis Timberland Library’s conference room for the Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday thanked the board for the work they have done in the wake of former Executive Director Cheryl Heywood’s resignation to engage the public and rescind the majority of the involuntary layoffs that were set to take effect May 15.
Public commenters, including a representative of library workers union AFSCME Local 3758, advocated for the eight frontline staffers still on the chopping block and urged TRL to rescind those involuntary layoffs, as well.
Those eight involuntary layoffs are still planned to take effect May 15. An additional 17 voluntary layoffs will take effect April 30.
Meeting attendees also pointed to the vast amount of work still ahead for TRL if it hopes to mend the broken trust between TRL’s leaders and the library district’s staff and patrons.
Trustees, administrators and the public all agreed that that trust needs to be repaired if TRL hopes to pass the levy lid lift it needs to for a sustainable budget.
“I think we're starting to make a turn, but there's a lot of work to do, I think, as far as budget, accountability and trust,” Mittge said. “As we look at the audits, we look to a levy, I want to look at ways that we can just put Timberland to a higher showing, that we can feel good about asking neighbors to increase their taxes.”
One step the board is taking to try and regain public trust is pausing its future library refreshes so the facilities committee can revisit its policy regarding public engagement.
“We'll take a look at that, look for opportunities for improvement, and we'll look forward to working with the interim director whenever they're hired to really lock an updated framework in. And that will be used to inform all refreshes moving forward,” said trustee and facilities committee member Dustin Loup.
The Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to create two ad hoc committees — one to organize an independent audit to figure out how TRL’s budget crisis happened, and one to organize the levy lid lift.
Of the audit, Mittge said, “I appreciate the members of the public calling for this. I aim for something that will show us what happened, and focus on showing us and improve and learn from it and do better, both here and whoever's filling these seats and two or five-plus years.”
Loup, of Grays Harbor County, who was present in person for Wednesday’s meeting, said the board should be prepared for the audit to show that they as trustees bear some fault for the current budget crisis.
“I fully expect that the audit will come back and call us out as a board,” Loup said.
The levy committee will focus on engaging with members of the public and the Friends groups to garner support for a levy lid lift. The committee will also be responsible for exploring when to run the measure, and drafting the language of the proposal.
The board is currently leaning towards running it on the November general election ballot, meaning they would need to be ready in August.
The board is also still working on hiring an interim executive director, who will be charged with leading the audit and levy lid lift efforts, as well as any internal changes to TRL in response to concerns raised by staff and the public.
The board held initial interviews for the position on Saturday, April 18.
“Those, I think, went well and everything. It was just nice to be able to get together. We were able to do a lot of things,” Blanton said of the interviews.
TRL has not announced a timeline for filling the interim position, but trustees have said they hope to get it done quickly.
TRL administration has been able to keep the library running and pay the bills since former Heywood resigned last month, but they’re not authorized to make any significant internal changes, and the Board of Trustees has legal limits on how involved they can be in day-to-day operations.
The TRL Board of Trustees’ next regular meeting is 5:30 p.m. on May 27. It will be a hybrid meeting held at the Amanda Park Timberland Library in Grays Harbor County.
